During beta process I took very brief looks at Windows 8, but just never had the interest to delve any deeper. Aside from personal interest desktop OS just is not a concern of mine. So saw this news item and decided to take a look at MSDN. Downloaded, and installed. Spent about 30 minutes taking a look, then installed Teamviewer to show someone else.

I have to say that unless there is a stable non resource hog mod that can get me far away from 'Metro' (or whatever they call it today) I just simply can not use this OS. While this may play nice on a tablet or phone, this I just do not see as a desktop OS. What I found most frustrating was while running one app, to switch to another window was just mind boggling. I did not even attempt to see about having multiple programs running and tiled on the same screen.

I just don't get it, why force this on users now? Why not make this an UI for tablets, and just give us our classic desktop. As much as maybe I want to think I have been with the old for too long, I realize that the old simply works and that is all I want it to. The Start Menu, desktop icons, and taskbar works period, there was no reason to change this for a desktop OS. I just am at a loss for words at how horrible this UI is. I found having to hit the "Windows" key too much just to switch because that *$&# moving the mouse to the corner was a royal pain int arse. Maybe I am too old, or maybe this UI just sucks. Time will tell.

So... I'm done my migration to Windows 8. The fuck.I made other backups because I fully expected it to fail, but I made an Easy Transfer (130GB of data apparently) file of my user profiles in Windows 7, wiped the drive and clean installed 8. Installed my apps and drivers, then skeptically imported the Easy Transfer file.

All my app data works as if nothing's changed. All my files are there. Even my desktop icons are in the same position. Okay, I have a few more CD-based games to install, but otherwise, I spent a little under 2 hours on this migration. I have never got a machine running that fast before. Never thought of Easy Transfer as reliable. Now, I didn't use the default settings to Easy Transfer. I forced it to include all of %localappdata% and %appdata% and it worked. It even gave me a report of suggested apps (about 60 not counting Steam games and extra Visual Studio junk) to install based on what I had before and marked what I had already installed.

Yeah, I'm impressed. I think I'll look at Easy Transfer a bit more in the future. It's not a misnomer.My only driver issue is chipset. Without them, my fan runs at max all the time, but I think my mobo has a utility to control that.

Found something else in regards to the mail app.When you add a Google account to Mail, there's a checkbox for also syncing contacts and calendars. If you leave it unchecked, it sets the account up as IMAP. Delete works as expected. If you choose to sync Google Contacts and Google Calendar, it sets the account up as Exchange ActiveSync and you have to do the stupid Google Sync thing to get delete to work properly.

So... I'm done my migration to Windows 8. The fuck.I made other backups because I fully expected it to fail, but I made an Easy Transfer (130GB of data apparently) file of my user profiles in Windows 7, wiped the drive and clean installed 8. Installed my apps and drivers, then skeptically imported the Easy Transfer file.

All my app data works as if nothing's changed. All my files are there. Even my desktop icons are in the same position. Okay, I have a few more CD-based games to install, but otherwise, I spent a little under 2 hours on this migration. I have never got a machine running that fast before. Never thought of Easy Transfer as reliable. Now, I didn't use the default settings to Easy Transfer. I forced it to include all of %localappdata% and %appdata% and it worked. It even gave me a report of suggested apps (about 60 not counting Steam games and extra Visual Studio junk) to install based on what I had before and marked what I had already installed.

Yeah, I'm impressed. I think I'll look at Easy Transfer a bit more in the future. It's not a misnomer.My only driver issue is chipset. Without them, my fan runs at max all the time, but I think my mobo has a utility to control that.

You possibly wasted even more time than you needed to, we did an upgrade install of 7 to 8 here and it ran perfectly. I had to reformat my machine because it had RP on it

Yeah, the Mail app only seems to support IMAP and Exchange ActiveSync.

One very disappointing aspect of Win8 is File History... The fact that it only will cover libraries is bad. So I'm still using the normal Backup & Re... I mean "Windows 7 File Recovery". Having a Time Machine-like one-click backup solution is a nice idea, but TM backs up everything and expects you to exclude folders you don't want backed up. This just goes "lol libraries".

Also, here's something weird. Before I migrated my files, I could only choose "Windows Default" for the sound scheme. After migrating, the list of sound schemes from Windows 7 appeared and seem to be working.

I'm actually liking the mail app -- mostly because it seems to handle gmail with a large inbox well (and not try and force me into pop). That said it doesn't appear to have any search (server side search) specifically - so it's a non-starter for replacing webmail untill then. Unless I'm missing something.

Otherwise what are people using metro for? I find myself mostly changing the default apps for the various file types to non-metro analogues. I might just not be the target audience - or it might be force of habit - but really the only metro app I have actively "used" (as apposed to being thrown into by default) is the calendar app (but just to view schedules from my gmail calendar - so don't know if the other functionality is up to spec yet).

Once I got in the habit of windows-D to quickly get back to the standard desktop,windows key -> type to start a search, and using the arrow keys to pick between the three caqtegories the metro stuff didn't really bother me at all. I'm not sure what my thoughts are yet on multi-monitor interaction with metro apps. I think it really depends on how useful I find metro apps.

So for the #1 annoyance (wrt metro. well modern now I guess.) is figuring out how to close something. (click/touch at top of screen and swipe all the way to the bottom.) If they had included this in the opening video my experience would have been much smoother - as it's something that's not really discoverable at all, and not something you would expect/know about based on any previous windows experience. (Is this a win phone UI gesture, or something new)

Windows 8 as an OS was a smooth experience. I'm on an older i920/1366 system. Everything installed by default (including 2 garmin USB devices) except my epson 3170 scanner - and the latter worked fine with the win7x64 driver pack. I do have one networked printer (a samsung clp-320) - it was detected automatically on the add-printer launch and one click later was installed.

I haven't run into any software compatibilities to date - and in regards to the garmin usb devices (forerunner 305, edge 305) -- I have high hopes for the windows supplied drivers -- as garminusb.sys was pretty much my #1 cause of blue screens (pretty much only cause) on my prev. win 7 install. About once a week when attaching a device after a run/ride I would get a bluescreen with garminusb.sys as the cause. My fingers are crossed.

So for the #1 annoyance (wrt metro. well modern now I guess) is figuring out how to close something.

I thought you weren't meant to close Metro Modern UI apps? If you have plenty of RAM why would you need to?

Quote:

Don't offer users ways to close or terminate your app in its UIUsers should feel confident that Windows is managing their apps for them. Metro style apps should not display Close buttons or other ways to exit the app. Windows can terminate your app to ensure the best system performance and reliability. (Source)

So for the #1 annoyance (wrt metro. well modern now I guess) is figuring out how to close something.

I thought you weren't meant to close Metro Modern UI apps? If you have plenty of RAM why would you need to?

Well, I'm not as worried about the memory usage as cluttering up my alt-tab list (or left-swipe). When I'm trying to swap apps (which happens more often since they maximize) I don't want to tab through everything I've opened since last reboot. (There may be some sort of decay, but not that i've noticed).

Entegy wrote:

All Metro apps use the Search charm. Press Win+Q.

Doh, should have realized that. Vistaline's comment is my next issue though - I'd like server searches without having to move all the mail locally.

So for the #1 annoyance (wrt metro. well modern now I guess) is figuring out how to close something.

I thought you weren't meant to close Metro Modern UI apps? If you have plenty of RAM why would you need to?

Well, I'm not as worried about the memory usage as cluttering up my alt-tab list (or left-swipe). When I'm trying to swap apps (which happens more often since they maximize) I don't want to tab through everything I've opened since last reboot. (There may be some sort of decay, but not that i've noticed).

If you're using a mouse you can clean up your left-swipe/corner list by right-clicking and selecting Close on each one you don't want (or just middle-clicking).

I've been screwing around with the RTM for a few days now, while the new Windows Explorer is very nice the rest of the OS feels very unfinished. To be honest, the interface (desktop) reminds me a lot of the old Windows Whistler beta interface, my mind keeps expecting a "final" design to appear. I've noticed it is a bit more difficult to determine which window is active in the taskbar as the highlighting is very subtle. Another issue that I haven't figured out a workaround for is how to modify a shortcut that's on the start screen. For instance, no matter what I do when I pin Chrome to the start screen it always wants to launch the metro version of Chrome, not the proper desktop version. How do I get around this?

One thing I find curious that I'm interested in others' opinion on: Browsing the Windows Store, there are a number of apps that have long since died out on the Windows desktop, for example Pinball. Nice, easy game to have around. But on the Windows desktop in the past, these types of simple, high quality games just didn't exist. You had the basic ones that came with Windows, then you had the high end, big budget games, and everything else you just went to a website for and played with Flash. However, there was nothing really stopping someone from making such a game and distributing it, but it's likely very few people would've downloaded and played it.

What's the reason for the "resurgence" of apps of this type (and all types) now with Windows 8? Is it just a result of the sheer ease of obtaining apps from a centralized store? Or is it because playing Flash games is less tenable now due to IE10's limited Flash support? Or is it just because MS is paying devs to make these apps? All of the above?

Anyway, what I'm finding is that the Start screen has a few minor drawbacks compared to the Start menu, but overall it serves as a fine replacement. I can totally understand why MS is taking Windows in this direction, it's really the only way to keep it relevant in the face of this new era of touch devices we have upon us. I don't love all of Metro's design aesthetics, but at least it's clean, simple, and consistent. Most Metro apps are simply harder to use on a desktop and not worth bothering with, however some might be sort of neat, like the Pinball example I gave above. Or with Mail, I still prefer Gmail's web interface, but it's nice to add my account to Mail anyway so I can receive notifications and unread count on the lock screen.

Regarding Chrome, if you don't want the Start tile to launch the Metro version, you have to not set Chrome as the default browser.

I think I'm losing it, but why is it so hard to search the stupid music store for artists? Am I doing it wrong (probably)? It's been five minutes and the only thing I see is Featured crap. No search feature... grumble.. grumble...

One thing I find curious that I'm interested in others' opinion on: Browsing the Windows Store, there are a number of apps that have long since died out on the Windows desktop, for example Pinball. Nice, easy game to have around. But on the Windows desktop in the past, these types of simple, high quality games just didn't exist. You had the basic ones that came with Windows, then you had the high end, big budget games, and everything else you just went to a website for and played with Flash. However, there was nothing really stopping someone from making such a game and distributing it, but it's likely very few people would've downloaded and played it.

What's the reason for the "resurgence" of apps of this type (and all types) now with Windows 8? Is it just a result of the sheer ease of obtaining apps from a centralized store? Or is it because playing Flash games is less tenable now due to IE10's limited Flash support? Or is it just because MS is paying devs to make these apps? All of the above?

All of the above. Or rather, I should say that the situation you describe is exactly what drove Microsoft to go the direction they did with Windows 8 in the first place. It wasn't just that they were worried about competition from the iPad (which actually didn't exist yet when many of the major decisions about Windows 8 were made). They saw that people were spending less time in Windows desktop apps and more in browsers, developers were abandoning Windows desktop apps in favor of web apps and even those developers still on Windows were ignoring APIs introduced in new versions, even the otherwise successful Windows 7. Meanwhile the iPhone app store become wildly successful, which on the one hand was kind of scary to the Windows team, but on the other hand was actually encouraging because it suggested that native client apps might have a future after all (the prevailing wisdom at the time was that the web was the only platform that mattered).

I think I'm losing it, but why is it so hard to search the stupid music store for artists? Am I doing it wrong (probably)? It's been five minutes and the only thing I see is Featured crap. No search feature... grumble.. grumble...

I think I'm losing it, but why is it so hard to search the stupid music store for artists? Am I doing it wrong (probably)? It's been five minutes and the only thing I see is Featured crap. No search feature... grumble.. grumble...

Has anyone heard any information about OEM licenses for Windows 8? I like to build my home PCs from scratch. Indeed, it's getting to be time for another build. Right now I'm holding off on it while I'm waiting for Windows 8 to hit GA. However, I do have to admit to a little trepidation now that we are getting so close to GA with no word from Microsoft on pricing and on how OEM licenses will be obtainable. Surely Microsft isn't going to abandon the individual system builder market? For me, when I think of Windows in general, THE "Killer App" has always been it's ability to run on hardware I get to choose, not just what some OEM is willing to offer. Here's hoping I soon have a reason to put together a new system!

Another issue that I haven't figured out a workaround for is how to modify a shortcut that's on the start screen. For instance, no matter what I do when I pin Chrome to the start screen it always wants to launch the metro version of Chrome, not the proper desktop version. How do I get around this?

There's not really a UI for modifying a shortcut on the start screen, but there's a hackish way of doing it. Tiles for desktop apps, websites or folders are really just regular desktop shortcuts, so you can normally modify them using the regular desktop Properties dialog. Right click on a Start screen desktop tile -> click "Open file location" -> right click on shortcut -> open Properties. You can also pin individual documents to the Start screen (another thing that's not really officially supported through the UI, though pinning folders is; no idea why) by copying shortcuts to them to this same folder (they take a few minutes to show up for some reason).

However, the issue you're encountering with Chrome is something different - it doesn't really have anything to do with the shortcut itself or the OS settings, but with how Chrome is deciding to open. The reason is that browsers, or rather only the web browser you've set as your default, get a special exception from the normal separation between desktop and Metro apps. Your default browser is allowed to have both a desktop and Metro UI mode for the same executable. IE10 works the same way - it is really just one app, not two, just with two UI modes it can open in. Which mode it opens in is up to the browser itself, so if there's a way to change that it'll be in the browser's own settings somewhere, not the OS settings. With IE you'll find it in the desktop Internet Options dialog under Programs (or do a settings search for "links"), Chrome I'm not sure.

This isn't really a "public" trial, but a trial for devs without MSDN accounts to test against. It has an IMPORTANT CAVEAT that I hope will go away once the OS hits GA and the real trial goes up. Namely: Following the evaluation period, you will need to replace the operating system on your test computer and reinstall all your programs and data. It is not possible to upgrade the evaluation to a licensed working version of Windows 8. A clean installation is required. (Emphasis mine)

So, don't install this on a real box that has data you care about on, unless you're cool with reformatting it again in 90 days.

I haven't tried the RTM yet, but I'm a little unsure if I'll like the change to larger icons and smaller text for desktop tiles. A lot of the desktop stuff I pin doesn't have particularly distinctive icons, so the larger text helps me quickly spot and click on their tiles. Like, how do pinned folders now look? Do they all have the same giant manila folder icon, with just a small textual caption below? Because that ... wouldn't be an improvement.

Yeah, the Mail app only seems to support IMAP and Exchange ActiveSync.

One very disappointing aspect of Win8 is File History... The fact that it only will cover libraries is bad. So I'm still using the normal Backup & Re... I mean "Windows 7 File Recovery". Having a Time Machine-like one-click backup solution is a nice idea, but TM backs up everything and expects you to exclude folders you don't want backed up. This just goes "lol libraries".

Also, here's something weird. Before I migrated my files, I could only choose "Windows Default" for the sound scheme. After migrating, the list of sound schemes from Windows 7 appeared and seem to be working.